Text Size

HOW FREEDOMWORKS PLANS TO HELP BEAT THAD COCHRAN -- Your Huddle host sat down Thursday with FreedomWorks President and CEO Matt Kibbe to discuss the tea party group’s ground game in the Mississippi Senate GOP runoff, former Gov. Haley Barbour, and why he thinks Democrats have no chance for an upset in the fall.

-- FreedomWorks has already spent $350,000 boosting tea party candidate Chris McDaniel, and Kibbe aims to raise and spend another $350,000 in the next few weeks. “I’ve said we want to double down,” he said. “We started last December organizing our ground game, with 35 grassroots leaders. We have a fairly well-oiled machine … We’re just scrambling to produce more materials. TV ads is not what we do. We want more yard signs, more door hangers, more things for activists to pass out while they’re door-knocking. … We like to think that we owned Facebook going into Tuesday, and we will continue to do that. … We think the biggest bang for the buck is get-out-the-vote [efforts] and social media.”

-- On Cochran ally Haley Barbour’s attacks on outside “Washington” groups trying to influence the Senate race: “I do think he has started taking shots at us directly, and I think there is a certain amount of irony in him calling us a Washington insider -- I think that’s great,” said Kibbe, noting that Barbour has been a longtime D.C. lobbyist. “He’s actually said explicitly that part of their strategy is to go after groups like ours, and we’re certainly willing to punch back if we have to but we would rather run on the issues.”

-- Kibbe says it’s “far-fetched” to think Democrats could win the seat if McDaniel is the GOP nominee: “First of all, it’s an off-year election and one where the Democratic president is horribly unpopular. His policies are horribly unpopular, Obamacare is horribly unpopular. It’s Mississippi. Not only is there a 10-point Republican advantage in the state, everything in Mississippi is Republican. Indiana is a very different state. I just think it’s really far-fetched. This isn’t 2008. This isn’t 2012. It looks more like 2010, so it’s hard to imagine.

-- “The Hatch Effect” and why FreedomWorks’ broader strategy is misunderstood: “We’re not trying to maximize our win-loss ratio, although I’d love to win all these fights. But if I was interested in wins, I would probably do what the NRA does: Just endorse the guy who’s likely to win. That’s not what we do. We’re trying to move the conversation at the margin, so we’ve made big bets on guys nobody thought could win, like Mike Lee, Like Rand Paul, like Ted Cruz, and they have shifted the party back to where Ronald Reagan pushed it to stand starting in 1976 when he primaried a sitting Republican president.

“Think of how Mitch McConnell ran his campaign [by running to the right] … We actually call that ‘The Hatch Effect,’ because that’s why Orrin Hatch did to avoid his primary challenge. If our goal is to get them to vote the right way, who’s winning? … [We’re] changing the incentives of the entire Republican caucus. The outcome of Mississippi will affect the behavior of all of them.”

McCAIN, SANDERS STRIKE DEAL TO FIX VA – POLITICO’s Jeremy Herb reports: “Sens. Bernie Sanders and John McCain have struck a deal on legislation to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs to expand veterans’ access to health care and make it easier to fire VA officials for misconduct. The compromise measure, announced Thursday on the Senate floor, includes pieces of three VA bills that have been introduced in the Senate. The legislation would allow veterans to see private doctors outside the VA system if they experience long wait times or live more than 40 miles from a VA facility. And it incorporates provisions from legislation introduced in the Senate by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) making it easier to fire VA officials.

-- “Similar legislation overwhelmingly passed the House last month and is included in the Sanders-McCain deal with the addition of an appellate process. The bill also includes the construction of 26 new VA medical facilities in 18 states and uses $500 million in unobligated VA funds to hire additional VA doctors and nurses.” http://politi.co/1jZihUB

MORE THAN 30 LAWMAKERS ATTEND D-DAY CEREMONY AT NORMANDY – Matt Fuller writes for Roll Call: “A group of 25 House lawmakers and nine senators [joined] President Barack Obama at Friday’s international memorial service in Normandy marking the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., [attended] the observance ceremony, along with 12 other House Democrats. Armed Services Chairman Howard ‘Buck’ McKeon, R-Calif., will lead the House Republican contingent, while on the Senate side, eight Democrats — Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Jon Tester of Montana, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Mazie K. Hirono of Hawaii and Republican Dean Heller of Nevada will attend.” http://bit.ly/1kGmTni

HILLARY TALKS BERGDAHL IN NEW BOOK – CBS News nabbed an early copy of her long-awaited memoir, “Hard Choices”: “She touches on negotiations with the Taliban and attempts to secure the freedom of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, whose recent release has been the subject of a growing controversy for the White House. In describing the off-and-on negotiations over the release of Berghdal, Clinton wrote, ‘The Taliban's top concern seemed to be the fate of its fighters being held at Guantanamo Bay and other prisons. In every discussion about prisoners, we demanded the release of Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who had been captured in 2009. There would not be any agreement about prisoners without the sergeant coming home. ...

-- “‘I acknowledged, as I had many times before, that opening the door to negotiations with the Taliban would be hard to swallow for many Americans after so many years of war,’ she continued.” http://cbsn.ws/1kF9P1Y

ANOTHER SCHOOL SHOOTING – One person was killed and others were injured when a man opened fire on campus at Seattle Pacific University, the Seattle Times reports. The shooter, who was not a student at the college, was identified as 26-year-old Aaron Ybarra. http://bit.ly/1kOiKcw

WSJ A-HED -- “Schumer Drops by Graduations to Tell Same 'Loser' Story: New York Senator Often Arrives Unadvertised but Colleges Aren't Complaining; 'It's a Tradition'” By Mike Vilensky and Sara Germano: “As colleges around the country go through the graduation ritual of speeches, handshakes and cheers, school officials in New York have been dealing with another ritual: the often unadvertised arrival of Mr. Schumer. Politicians at all levels of government often speak at commencement, but few have embraced the role as ardently as New York's senior senator. So far this commencement season, Mr. Schumer, a Democrat elected in 1998, has made remarks at least eight colleges or universities in the state.” http://on.wsj.com/1i8lLV7

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, June 6, 2014, and welcome to The Huddle, your play-by-play preview of all the action on Capitol Hill. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to swong@politico.com. If you don’t already, please follow me on Twitter @scottwongDC.

TODAY IN CONGRESS – Both the House and Senate are out today and will be back on Monday.

BURWELL’S TEXTBOOK CAMPAIGN FOR CONFIRMATION – Seung Min Kim and Jennifer Haberkorn report for the hometown paper: “She assiduously courted lawmakers. Promised to be more transparent and responsive. Won them over with her private-sector credentials. In short, Sylvia Mathews Burwell ran a textbook campaign for one of the most controversial posts in the administration: implementing Obamacare. With her overwhelming confirmation Thursday to succeed Kathleen Sebelius at Health and Human Services, Burwell has already started to cultivate a friendlier relationship with Republicans — one that could ease some of the tensions between the Hill and HHS simmering for four years over Obamacare. …

-- “Her 78-17 confirmation as the next HHS secretary came as no surprise following the largely spark-free confirmation hearings and a 21-3 vote last month in the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees much of the health law. Still, that was a marked shift from when she was unveiled as Sebelius’s replacement in April, when Republicans were quietly threatening to turn Burwell’s nomination into a proxy war over Obamacare.” http://politi.co/1kFQ4Hu

-- 24 REPUBLICANS VOTED ‘AYE’: Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker of Tennessee; John Barrasso and Mike Enzi of Wyoming; Richard Burr of North Carolina; Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson of Georgia; Dan Coats of Indiana; Tom Coburn of Oklahoma; Susan Collins of Maine; Mike Crapo of Idaho; Deb Fischer and Mike Johanns of Nebraska; Jeff Flake and John McCain of Arizona; Lindsey Graham of South Carolina; Chuck Grassley of Iowa; Orrin Hatch of Utah; John Hoeven of North Dakota; Ron Johnson of Wisconsin; Lisa Murkowski of Alaska; Rob Portman of Ohio; Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania; and Roger Wicker of Mississippi. http://1.usa.gov/1ojowII

TRANSITIONS – CHARLOTTE SELLMYER has joined the National Music Publishers’ Association as its new vice president of communications, our friends at POLITICO Influence report. She previously served as communications director for the House Homeland Security Committee under Chairman Michael McCaul, and before that was a spokeswoman for the House Judiciary Committee under then-Chairman Lamar Smith.

LATINOS TO OBAMA: HIRE US – Anna Palmer reports for POLITICO: “When top Hispanic lawmakers met with President Barack Obama earlier this year, the first issue they brought up wasn’t immigration reform. Their ask: Hire more Latinos. And they haven’t let up, requesting meetings and pressing Obama and White House officials to make progress on diversifying the administration. They want a progress report by the end of the year. The push is part of a broader change in strategy for Hispanic leaders. The movement built up its power as the fastest growing Democratic voting bloc in the country, one Obama himself relied on in both of his presidential campaigns. Now Latino activists want to create a network across Washington of their own players — on the Hill, at federal agencies and even on K Street — that can push and shape their own agenda and inspire more would-be Latino voters to start hitting the polls and seek elected office.” http://politi.co/1xgHOCI

‘RAHM EMANUEL: D.C. HERO, CHICAGO GOAT’ – Our own Maggie Haberman in the Windy City: “In Washington, he is ‘Rahmbo,’ the ruthless, profane operative who survived the Clinton White House despite being vanquished by the first lady. In Chicago, Rahm Emanuel has been dubbed the ‘murder mayor’ by one critic, a snipe at the city’s high homicide rate. … In Washington, he’s the star of the CNN series ‘Chicagoland’ — a careful keeper of his image whose office helped coordinate the show. In the real Chicago, a city known for its mobster history, his tough-guy veneer just isn’t as intimidating. When Emanuel exited the Beltway in late 2010 to run for Chicago mayor, he had the tacit backing of a current president and the overt support of a former one. He won the race to succeed Richard M. Daley, and expectations ran high that Washington’s supreme enforcer was just the person to tame the Wild Midwest.

-- “Now, just nine months out from the next election, Emanuel is unexpectedly vulnerable, with an approval rating that is perilously low. The comedown for the Illinois native, who terrified staffers and donors over more than a decade in Washington, has been striking. So has been the contrast between how he’s regarded in D.C., New York and Los Angeles — as opposed to some wards of Chicago.” http://politi.co/1xgBQSA

McCONNELL VS. GRIMES: THE 2014 STOCK PHOTO WARS – James Hohmann has the story for POLITICO: “The stock photo war of 2014 escalated in Kentucky on Thursday night, as Alison Lundergan Grimes’ campaign attacked Sen. Mitch McConnell’s team for using European stock photos in three Facebook posts. Republicans seized on an afternoon POLITICO report that the Democratic Kentucky Senate candidate released a newspaper ad featuring a picture of a Ukrainian male model pretending to be a coal miner. Grimes’ campaign says it was a mistake by its design firm that was caught before the ad appeared in newspapers.

-- “It turns out that an image accompanying a McConnell Facebook post about President Barack Obama’s ‘war on coal’ in January was of a power plant in Athens, Greece, licensed from the web site Shutterstock. An April Facebook post touting the National Rifle Association’s endorsement of the Senate minority leader was accompanied by a picture from a Danish photographer of what is likely a Danish hunter. A separate post about the Second Amendment in November, meanwhile, used a photo that appeared earlier on a Slovenian tourism web site.” http://politi.co/SAsL6Q

CORKER SORRY FOR ‘MIDGET’ JIBE – Zachary Warmbrodt writes for POLITICO: “Sen. Bob Corker is under fire for using the M-word. Little People of America on Thursday said the Tennessee Republican’s use of the word ‘midget’ before a Senate Banking Committee vote on Tuesday was ‘embarrassing and insulting.’ Corker used the word as he chided colleagues Tuesday for letting Congressional Budget Office scores dictate policy debates. … The nonprofit group, which supports the dwarfism community, sees the word as a ‘slur.’ … On Thursday afternoon, Corker apologized for his indelicate phrasing. ‘I sincerely apologize for what was a poor word choice and in no way meant to offend anyone.’” http://politi.co/1jZdN09

THURSDAY’S TRIVIA WINNER – Chris Armstrong and Paul Curran both correctly answered just seconds apart that one California county voted this week to secede to form a 51st state named “Jefferson.” It was Tehama County.

TODAY’S TRIVIA – My colleague Seung Min Kim has today’s question: This sitting senator once served as a rodeo physician. Who is it? The first person to send the correct answer to swong@politico.com gets a mention in the next Huddle.

GET HUDDLE emailed to your Blackberry, iPhone or other mobile device each morning. Just enter your email address where it says “Sign Up.” http://www.politico.com/huddle/

**A message from POWERJobs: Staples is seeking a Senior Manager of Labor Relations. This person will provide strategic support and operational guidance regarding labor relations avoidance strategy. This role will develop the proactive approach to minimize third party intervention, use analytics to predict early warning signs for possible union activity (in partnership with the Legal Department), keep abreast of legislative changes in Canada and the U.S. in labor laws and represent Staples in union negotiations with our existing unions. Click here for details.**